Brainpainter: Artist Statement

Whether from my perspective as a scientist or an artist, the closer I look at life, the more complex things become. Although often viewed as static, to me neuroanatomy is quintessentially the source of movement and activity. Until death, the brain is never still; there is constant communication, change and redesign, and of course the evanescence of thoughts and dreams. My canvas is created from living neural tissue. The dyes and reagents of histology are the background layer upon which "I paint what I see". I never know if the next creature my imagination coaxes from the cellular tangle will be whimsical or macabre, but each will inevitably reveal itself to be comprised of ever tinier entities until the microcosm teems and bursts with life.

I paint with light, digitally, but not until the advent of high resolution, archival giclee printing have I had a tangible form through which to share the luminous world I see. My artwork is designed to be viewed initially from a distance of several feet, then to draw the observer in closer and closer, almost "eyelashes to the canvas" to discover these nested worlds in the same way that I am drawn in deeper and deeper through the microscope. Through my biologically-based art, it is my intent to tantalize the viewer into pursuit of constantly changing points-of-view, each with its own enchantment, and each with its own validity.

Gayle Gross de Nunez, Ph.D.
http://brainpainter.com
gden@brainpainter.com
574-806-8078, 574-772-5331

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